Friday, January 13, 2017

Foreign Automakers Really Beat the Patriotism Drum at the Detroit Auto Show

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The vibe at this year’s Detroit auto show was distinctly more American than usual, one cultivated not by the Detroit Three but rather the large foreign automakers, most of which no doubt wished to avoid any angry tweets fired in their direction from president-elect Donald Trump. Indeed, Toyota, Honda, and others touted strong, longstanding ties to the land of the red, white, and blue, including sponsorships and manufacturing commitments.

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Honda

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In the first seven sentences spoken at Honda’s press conference, Honda Motor Company CEO and president Takahiro Hachigo said “America,” “North America,” or “United States” six times as he highlighted the company’s long history of building vehicles in Ohio, where motorcycle production began in 1979 and the first cars came off the line in 1982. He further pointed out that 96 percent of Hondas sold in America last year were made in America. Honda has 12 U.S. plants that make a variety of products, including the star debutante for Honda in Detroit, the new 2018 Odyssey.

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Honda has built the Odyssey in North America since the second generation in 1999, and Honda Motor Company executive vice president John Mendel confirmed that the strategy will continue with the latest, fifth-generation model, to be built in Lincoln, Alabama. Honda also made sure to point out that the new Odyssey was designed and developed entirely in the United States. That also includes its new 10-speed transmission, which comes from Honda’s plant in Tallapoosa, Georgia, as well as its V-6 engine, which comes from Anna, Ohio.

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Hyundai

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The NFL is as American as things come, but the official auto company of the professional-football league is Hyundai of South Korea, which splits the sponsorship honors with Ford. Hyundai devoted a section of its auto-show stand to the sport, including a setup to play the Madden NFL video game, TVs showing game highlights, and a chrome, white, and blue NFL-clad Hyundai Santa Fe with a grill and cooler attached to its trailer hitch for that most American of pastimes, tailgating.

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Subaru

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The Subaru of Indiana Automotive (SIA) plant in Lafayette, Indiana, has been assembling cars for the Japanese company for nearly three decades. Its roster of nameplates now includes the Impreza for the first time, the all-new 2017 version of which has joined the Outback and Legacy among U.S.-made Subies. Subaru didn’t go to nearly the same lengths as some of the other automakers to show off its American affiliations, but sometimes subtle messages can be just as effective, and every SIA-assembled car proclaims its origin right on the driver’s window.

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Toyota

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The most overt display of patriotism was found in the Toyota booth, where a Tundra, a Tacoma, and a Camry were all displayed in red, white, and blue. The Tundra added a Texas flag and bold Built in Texas lettering, while the Tacoma touted Toyota’s partnership with Hiring Our Heroes, a U.S. Chamber of Commerce foundation to help veterans. The big debut from Toyota was the all-new 2018 Camry; the brand also had a current Camry there to serve as a “Made in America” billboard. Toyota also made sure to bring along the version of the new Camry it will be racing in America’s favorite racing series, NASCAR.

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With 388,618 units sold last year, the Camry is the best-selling car in the United States, and Toyota played that up in the 2018 car’s press materials, titling an entire section, “Camry—Everybody’s All-American.” There, it reminded readers that Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky, plant has been manufacturing the car for close to 30 years,and that the Camry ties for the eighth place on the Kogod Made in America Auto Index with 79 percent domestically sourced content.

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Volkswagen
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-VW really wants Americans to like the company again and to know the company likes them. The German automaker showed off a four-wheeled atonement for the diesel scandal in the form of the Microbus-esque I.D. Buzz EV concept as well as the arguably more important three-row Atlas SUV, which was designed specifically for the U.S. market and will be built in Chattanooga, Tennessee. To drive home its points, VW’s press conference opened with a video that began with a gorgeous overhead sunset shot of the Chicago skyline. Then came a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Then something vaguely Los Angeles–like, then the American Southwest. Eventually, various speakers made statements such as, “I think Volkswagen is writing the next chapter of our story in the American market” and called the Atlas “the best vehicle, the best Volkswagen for the Americans.” The video then posited that the Atlas could become to modern Americans what the Beetle once was: a cultural icon. So, yeah, VW went American.

For all of these patriotic gestures, American brands arguably have come under more fire from president-elect Trump for building vehicles in foreign locales. They, too, touted their commitments to the United States, with both Ford and Chrysler announcing investments to expand and modernize plants in Michigan and Ohio.

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